World War 2

World War 2, its causes and aftermath: an overview

World War 2, also known as the second world war, was a conflict that took place from 1939 to 1946 although the European theatre of the War was over by 1945. Like World War 1 many of the world’s nations were involved in the conflict. The causes of World War 2 are simpler than the causes of the first world war. The inciting incident for the declarations of war by the Allies against Nazi Germany was their invasion of Poland. Although Hitler’s belligerence and annexation of land in the 1930’s (After he came to power in 1933) lead many nations to become first suspicious of his actions and then worried.

The U.S.A, however, did not enter the war until they were attacked by the Japanese Empire at Pearl harbour in 1941. Before this time, they helped the allies with materials and food. This aid came across the Atlantic which was one of the main theatres of combat for the Navies. The Soviet Union was another of the major belligerents that did not enter the war until 1941 when they were attacked by Nazi Germany breaking the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. World War 2 ended in Europe with France being liberated by the Western Allies and Berlin captured by the Soviet forces who had borne the brunt of the fighting in the expansive battles on the Eastern front. The war in the Pacific ended with the U.S.A dropping two Atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the dust settled on World war 2 the world had fundamentally changed. Germany was split between the Western Allies who formed N.A.T.O and the Soviet Union which now included the Eastern Block. The world then entered a period of tension known as the cold war.